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Hello and welcome to my page, I am a Visual Artist
Samantha Harrison (she/her) is a painter and recent graduate of Emily Carr University of Art + Design, with a BFA. She currently lives in Vancouver B.C, the traditional, ancestral and unceded territory of the Coast Salish peoples, the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), Stó:lō and Səlíc lwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) and xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) Nations. Her work consists primarily of oil paintings featuring traditional still-lives, or the human figure, painted in a Classical Realist, or Photorealist style. Some of her past exhibition history includes "Recreations of Myth and Spirit", with the Queen’s Park Gallery in New Westminster BC, "what we leave behind" with the Fort Gallery in Langley BC, and "Discovery: Juried Exhibition for New and Emerging Artists," at the Seymour Art Gallery.
Contact Details
Harrison, Samantha
Vancouver, BC, Canada
Samples of my work
, oil on canvas, 36%22 x 48%222-2023-02-06-21-45-31.jpg)
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Artist Statement
Most of these oil paintings are part of an ongoing series, titled Recreations of Myth and Spirit. This series seeks to recreate figures of mythological and religious origin as modern people. In creating each painting the objective is to match each model to different figures based on a moment of perceived similarity, while also deliberately mismatching the models in other aspects of their visual characteristics, such as their perceived racial identity, or biological sex. In doing this an attempt is made to draw focus upon the idea that mythological and spiritual figures are deeply connected to – and inspired by – various aspects of the human condition, even the mundane. In the painting Nigel as Mars (God of War), for example, the characteristics of the violent and driven Mars have been hinted at by Nigel’s wearing of a suit, and his possession of a chair leg which could serve as his weapon. The suit, being a clothing item worn by many office workers may at first seem mundane, but it could also be said to be symbol of corporate and political power – the men who occupy high positions in business and politics wear suits, and these are the very same individuals whose decisions give way to various forms of violence, such as environmental destruction, economic destruction, and military destruction. Simultaneously, a suit could be said to embody the more admirable characteristics associated with the god of war, such as success and discipline. As in this painting, the other paintings of this series attempt to draw focus to the characteristics of these figures as embodiments of human characteristics that continue to make themselves known throughout time. These paintings serve as both recreations and re-creations - that is, they represent both newer interpretations of older stories, just as much as they represent a kind of play-acting between friends, through which each model searches for themselves within the character that has been given to them. With this the viewer is hopefully encouraged to identify with these figures - as well as with the individuals acting as them - and by extension, engage with the stories surrounding them without feelings of exclusion. Gods may or may not be, but regardless godlikeness is within everyone.